The woman caught Covid twice in 20 days
(Picture: Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima)A 31-year-old healthcare worker caught Covid twice within 20 days, researchers in Spain have claimed.
The woman was infected by the Delta variant in late December but then caught the Omicron strain in January, tests from the research showed.
The woman did not develop symptoms after her first positive PCR test but less than three weeks later, she developed a cough and a fever which made her take a second test.
Following further tests, it was discovered the woman had been infected by two strains of Covid.
Dr Gemma Recio from the Institut Catala de Salut said the case showed that Omicron could evade previous immunity from previous variants or from vaccines.
“In other words, people who have had Covid-19 cannot assume they are protected against reinfection, even if they have been fully vaccinated,” she said.
"Nevertheless, both previous infection with other variants and vaccination do seem to partially protect against severe disease and hospitalisation in those with Omicron.”
According to the UK’s Covid dashboard, there have been 950,437 reinfection cases in England up to April 19.
The latest data shows 1,710 daily reinfections out of the 13,047 total cases reported on April 19.
Covid reinfections rose sharply in December 2021 after the Omicron variant emerged, and there was a further increase when the BA.2 strain appeared in early March.
Scientists predict that eventually everyone will catch Covid twice, and probably many more times over their life.
